Democratic members self-sort into three different ideological caucuses: the Congressional Progressive Caucus (who represent the left flank among House Democrats), the New Democrat Coalition (who represent the generic middle of the party, or the center-left on the broader political spectrum), and the Blue Dog Coalition (the centrists who represent the party’s right flank). The Republicans, in fact, now have something of a mirror-image setup, with three caucuses—the Main Street Partnership, the Republican Study Committee, and the Freedom Caucus—representing their center-right, establishment-right, and hard-right.

Conventional wisdom dictates that these new members are out on a limb with their Progressive Caucus membership, given their districts—though most were upfront about their leanings.

Early in the 2016 Primary campaign, I started a Facebook group: Bernie Sanders: Advice and Strategies to Help Him Win! As the primary season advanced, we shifted the focus to advancing Bernie's legislation in the Senate, particularly the most (more...)